1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to a rechargeable battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of information and communication technologies, compact and lightweight portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, laptop computers, and camcorders, are being actively developed and manufactured. These portable electronic devices use rechargeable batteries that can be repeatedly charged and discharged as a power source such that they may operate even in places where separate power sources are not provided.
The rechargeable battery generally includes a nickel-cadmium (Ni—Cd) battery, a nickel-hydrogen (Ni-MH) battery, a lithium secondary battery, etc., and the lithium secondary battery is manufactured to have various shapes that generally include a cylindrical shape, a prismatic shape, and a pouch shape.
The lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly including a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, and a separator, a case accommodating the electrode assembly, an electrolyte solution injected into the case to be able to move lithium ions, and a cap assembly fixed to an upper portion of the case to seal the case.
The positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate are respectively connected to corresponding electrode terminals, and the electrode terminals are positioned on the cap plate and penetrate the cap plate to be electrically connected to the positive electrode plate or the negative electrode plate. The electrode terminals may include different metals.
As such, when the electrode terminals include different metals, layers formed of different metals are bonded by friction welding, but the friction welding requires expensive equipment, thereby increasing manufacturing cost of the rechargeable battery.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.